Tigers conquer in home opener

The Tigers came away with their first victory of the season, with a 35-20 win over the Saint Francis Red Flash on Saturday.

“My hats off to Saint Francis,” Head Coach Rob Ambrose said. “They gave us a run for our money and we helped them, but 315 days later, it sure is nice to win a football game.”

Redshirt senior quarterback Connor Frazier threw for a career-high 269 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 36 yards and one touchdown.

“I think I’m definitely growing, but it definitely helps out with Coach Rob [Ambrose] and Coach Jared [Ambrose] calling great plays,” Frazier said. “The offensive line is also doing a great job keeping me upright so it’s easy to stand back there with them keeping in front of me.”

Towson’s (1-1) first offensive possession was a 22-play, 86-yard drive, which finished off with a 2-yard touchdown run from junior running back Darius Victor. The junior finished the game with 98 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

However, the Red Flash (1-1) responded on their next possession with a 99-yard kick return touchdown from defensive back Lorenzo Jerome.

Both teams had stalled drives on the next couple possessions, until Victor was able to break out for a 7-yard touchdown, which gave Towson a 14-7 lead at halftime.

The Tigers brought their offensive momentum into the third quarter, as they put together an 81-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown run from Frazier. The drive included an acrobatic 38-yard catch from junior wide receiver Jacquille Veii, which brought the ball down to the Red Flash’s 11-yard line.

Veii, a transfer from the University of Maryland, finished with game-high 115 receiving yards off of four catches.

“This kid loves football,” Ambrose said. “He went to Maryland, but he loves being a Tiger. He is contagious in his excitement for football and he makes us a better football team in so many ways off the field. I could not be happier that we have him.”

Towson’s defense forced a quick three-and-out from Saint Francis, which prompted the team to punt. Senior defensive back Donnell Lewis had a few blocks in front of him and he ran for a 49-yard punt return touchdown, which put Towson out in front 28-7 with less than eight minutes left in the third quarter.

The Tigers’ final touchdown came in the fourth quarter off of a touchdown catch from redshirt senior wide receiver Brian Dowling, who finished the game with 71 receiving yards.

Saint Francis was able to score a late touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Towson’s defense was able to shut down the team down for most of the game

“Our defensive line coach, [Coach Kosmakos], just told us to play reckless, being a young line, and the whole defensive line played reckless,” redshirt sophomore defensive tackle, Clifton Jones, said “We got the job done.”

Jones had five tackles and one-and-one-half sacks during the game.

Towson’s defense finished with five sacks and held Saint Francis to just 29 rushing yards.

“We had one key team victory, which I don’t do very often, and we had to tackle those guys [running backs],” Ambrose said. “We had to keep them from making huge plays and we did that.”

The Tigers will look to get their momentum and grab their second win of the season in a home matchup against the Holy Cross (1-0). Kickoff is at 6 p.m. on Saturday.